ABC PUTS IN EARLY 2005-06 SEASON ORDERS FOR FOUR CURRENT SERIES
�Alias,� �Boston Legal,� �Desperate Housewives� and �Lost� Slated to Return Next Season
The ABC Television Network has given �Alias,� �Boston Legal,� �Desperate Housewives� and �Lost� early pick-ups for the 2005-06 season, the network announced today.
�Alias,� now in its fourth season, places a strong No. 2 in its new time period among Total Viewers (11.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.7/11), opposite competition that includes Fox�s �American Idol.� Compared to its performance at the same point last season, �Alias� has grown by 2.8 million viewers and by 34% among Adults 18-49. In fact the series is delivering its highest-rated season ever. �Alias� stars Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, Victor Garber as Jack Bristow, Ron Rifkin as Arvin Sloane, Michael Vartan as Michael Vaughn, Carl Lumbly as Marcus Dixon, Kevin Weisman as Marshall Flinkman, Greg Grunberg as Eric Weiss and Mia Maestro as Nadia Santos. The series was created by J.J. Abrams, who executive-produces along with Ken Olin and Jeff Melvoin. Jeffrey Bell, Jesse Alexander and Jeff Pinkner are co-executive producers. �Alias� is from Touchstone Television.
�Boston Legal� ranks No. 1 in its hour among Total Viewers and across each of the key adult demos, ahead of NBC�s �Crossing Jordan�: Total Viewers (12.5 million), Adults 18-34 (3.6/10), Adults 18-49 (4.9/12) and Adults 25-54 (5.7/13). Compared to the same point last season, �Boston Legal� has improved the hour for ABC by 39% in Total Viewers and by 48% in Adults 18-49. The freshman drama stars James Spader as Alan Shore, Monica Potter as Lori Colson, Rhona Mitra as Tara Wilson, Mark Valley as Brad Chase and Rene Auberjonois as Paul Lewiston, with Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt and William Shatner as Denny Crane. The series was created by David E. Kelley. Kelley, Bill D�Elia and Scott Kaufer are executive producers. �Boston Legal� is produced by David E. Kelley Productions in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television.
Sunday night�s top-rated program, �Desperate Housewives� also qualifies as the No. 1 new TV series of the 2004-05 TV Season in Total Viewers (22.8 million), and as both the No. 1 new show and No. 1 scripted series in Adults 18-49 (10.0/22). On average �Desperate Housewives� is bringing ABC 180% more Total Viewers and 194% more Adults 18-49 to the time period than at the same point a year ago. The series stars Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van De Kamp, Eva Longoria as Gabrielle Solis, Nicollette Sheridan as Edie Britt, Steven Culp as Rex Van De Camp, Ricardo Antonio Chavira as Carlos Solis, Mark Moses as Paul Young, Andrea Bowen as Julie Mayer, Jesse Metcalfe as John, Cody Kasch as Zach Young, Brenda Strong as Mary Alice Young and James Denton as Mike Delfino. Marc Cherry is executive producer and creator of the series, which recently won both Golden Globe and People�s Choice Awards. Michael Edelstein and Tom Spezialy are executive producers, Kevin Murphy is co-executive producer and Charles Pratt Jr. is consulting producer of the series, from Touchstone Television.
�Lost� ranks a strong No. 1 in its time period among Total Viewers (15.9 million) and among Adults 18-49 (5.8/16). Against regular competition, the show leads the Wednesday 8 o�clock hour by 6.7 million viewers and by 38% in Adults 18-49 over its closest competition. Compared to the same point last season, �Lost� has improved the time period for ABC by 6.6 million viewers and by 61% in Adults 18-49. �Lost� stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Maggie Grace as Shannon, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Malcolm David Kelley as Walt, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Dominic Monaghan as Charlie, Terry O�Quinn as Locke, Harold Perrineau as Michael and Ian Somerhalder as Boone. The series was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof and Bryan Burk serve as executive producers. Jack Bender and David Fury are co-executive producers. �Lost,� which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii, is from Touchstone Television.
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